Manually Operable Position Sensor

1. A manually operable position sensor for providing control signals to an electronic device, comprising: a fabric ribbon having a length substantially longer than its width with insulating yarns and electrically conducting yarns included therein, such that said conducting yarns define a first conductive track, a second conductive track and a third conductive track, each said conductive track running the length of said fabric ribbon; said conductive tracks are configured to interface with an electronic device; and an active region of the fabric ribbon forms part of an analog sensor assembly that is receptive to a manually applied pressure, the position of said manually applied pressure is determined by measuring a voltage across two of the conductive tracks; and said sensor has a first conductive fabric plane, and a separation layer between said first conductive fabric plane and said active region of said fabric ribbon wherein: said first conductive track and said second conductive track are electrically connected to opposite ends of said first conductive fabric plane to generate a voltage gradient across said first conductive fabric plane; and a conductive path is formed between said first conductive fabric plane and said third conductive track of said active region when manual pressure is applied to said active region.

2. A sensor according to claim 1 , wherein said fabric is produced by a weaving process in which weft yarns are woven between warp yarns and the conducting yarns are included as part of the warp yarns.

3. A sensor according to claim 1 , wherein the conductive yarns are silver coated nylon.

4. A sensor according to claim 1 , wherein a conductive track is created from a plurality of conducting yarns.

5. A sensor according to claim 4 , wherein each conductive track is created from between five and ten conducting yarns.

6. A sensor according to claim 1 , wherein the insulating spacing between conductive tracks is wider than the width of the conductive tracks.

7. A sensor according to claim 6 , wherein the spacing between conductive tracks is made consistent with readily available circuit connectors.

8. A sensor according to claim 7 , wherein the spacing between conductive tracks is two point five millimeters.

9. A sensor according to claim 1 including masking means for defining active locations at positions on said active region.

10. A sensor according to claim 9 , wherein said masking means includes a first mask and a second mask, wherein said first mask is located above said separation layer and a said second mask is located below said separation layer.

11. A sensor according to claim 9 , including a cover sheet, wherein said cover sheet has graphical representations of device functions printed at respective positions of said active locations.

12. A sensor according to claim 1 , wherein: said separation layer includes a first insulating layer, a second conductive layer and a third insulating layer; and both of said insulating layers allow conduction there-through when manual pressure is applied but at least one will prevent conduction under conditions of bending.

13. A sensor according to claim 12 , wherein said first conductive layer and/or said second conductive layer are fabricated from carbonised nylon.

14. A sensor according to claim 1 , wherein said sensor is configured to be attached to a garment or a bag.

15. A sensor according to claim 14 , wherein said sensor is configured to control personal electronic equipment such as a music player or a mobile telephone.

16. A manually operable analog position sensor constructed from fabric for providing control signals to an electronic device, comprising: a first conductive fabric plane, a separation layer and a second conductive fabric plane; a fabric ribbon having a length substantially longer than its width with insulating yarns and electrically conducting yarns included therein, such that said conducting yarns define a first conductive track, a second conductive track and a third conductive track, each said conductive track running the length of said fabric ribbon; an active region of said fabric ribbon forming part of said analog sensor which is receptive to manually applied pressure, and a voltage measuring means configured to measure a voltage across two of the conductive tracks to determine said manually applied pressure; wherein said conductive tracks are configured to interface with an electronic device; said first conductive track and said second conductive track are electrically connected to opposite ends of said first conductive fabric plane to allow a voltage gradient to be generated; and said separation layer is positioned between said first conductive fabric plane and said active region of said fabric ribbon and is configured to allow a conductive path to be formed between said first conductive fabric plane and said third conductive track when manual pressure is applied to said active region.

17. A sensor according to claim 16 , including masking material for defining active locations of the sensor, in which a first mask is located above said separation layer and a second mask is located below said separation layer.

18. A method of constructing a manually operable position sensor for providing control signals to an electronic device, comprising the steps of: weaving a fabric ribbon with electrically conducting warp yarns that defines a first conductive track, a second conductive track and a third conductive track, each said conductive track runs the length of fabric ribbon; connecting each said conductive tracks at a first end to a connector for interfacing with an electronic device; and, at a second end forming a sensor assembly that is receptive to manually applied pressure over an active region of the fabric ribbon, the position of said manually applied pressure being determined by measuring a voltage across two of the conductive tracks; and placing a separation layer over the woven fabric and placing a first conductive fabric plane over said separation layer; electrically connecting said first conductive track and said second conductive track to opposite ends of said first conductive fabric plane to generate a voltage gradient across said first conductive fabric plane such that a conductive path is formed between said first conductive plane and said third conductive track of said active region when manual pressure is applied to said active region.

19. A method according to claim 18 , further comprising the step of applying masking for defining active locations.